Strength
by DuMont
Summary: What if Clark's strength grew out of control? So much that he couldn't contain it? Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I'm kind of stuck on my other story, so I've decided to do a new one for a while, then go back to Birthday Trip later. So... Spoilers a teensy bit for Perry Season 3-ish Feedback would REALLY be appreciated, and I know this is kind of slow, but it's gonna get better REALLY soon! I hope you like it!  
  
Strength  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Clark Kent always amazed himself how easily he could do things that nobody else on the planet could even fathom. He had just completely refenced the entire two hundred acre field of the Kent farm in Smallville, Kansas. In exactly two minutes and fifty-four seconds.  
  
It seemed like his abilities were increasing in power with every day that went by. One day it was heavy lifting to raise the front of the family truck off the ground, the next, he could lift it above his head with ease. Going into high school, he could run to school in three-fourths of a minute, now, in his junior year, he could make it in less than ten seconds, five if he ran harder. Being hit numerous times by bullets, he noticed the change from a small bruise left behind, to feeling nothing more than a light tap on his skin upon impact.  
  
He had discovered a while back that the source of his power was the sun. His abilities had gotten out of control when there had been some major solar flares, he had even thrown the farm's old tractor over ten miles in a sudden increase of strength.  
  
Clark walked in the kitchen door and headed for the fridge for a bottle of water. Martha Kent walked in and smiled at Clark.  
  
"Hey mom."  
  
"Hi, Honey. Did you finish the fence already?" Martha asked her son.  
  
Clark nodded and took another swig out of the water bottle. "I told Chloe I would meet her at the Torch this afternoon, she wants to give me the notes for an article I'm going to write."  
  
"Alright, just don't be gone all night," she said.  
  
"I won't, mom,"Clark assured her with a grin. He threw away the empty water bottle and walked out the door, speeding off in a blur.  
  
Clark got to Smallville High and navigated the hallways until he reached the door to the school newspaper's home. Chloe wasn't in the room, he figured she must have gone to use the restroom. He sat down on one of the couches and picked up last week's edition of the Torch and thumbed through it while he waited. After a couple minutes, he heard footsteps in the hall and Chloe entered the room. She walked right past Clark, to her computer desk at the far side of the room.  
  
"Hey," Clark greeted her.  
  
Chloe jumped and squealed, "Clark! Geez, you scared me!"  
  
They both cracked up.  
  
"Sorry, about that Chlo," Clark said in between laughs. "I didn't mean to scare you like that!"  
  
"Hey, I was preoccupied!" Chloe defended herself.  
  
"Right."  
  
"I was!" Clark's expression didn't change. "Well anyway," she said, changing the topic, "I have the notes from the interview with Mr. Rydell for you," she told him and handed him a notebook.  
  
Clark took them and said, "Chloe, you really need some action here, don't you? I mean, an article on a math teacher who won the "Teacher of the Year" award three years ago?"  
  
Chloe gave him the look.  
  
"Sorry," Clark said, faking hurt feelings. He glanced at the clock on the desk and looked back at Chloe, saying, "Oh, I have to get back! I stil have to write that report for Biology! See you, Chlo!"  
  
"Bye, Clark!" she called as he headed out of the room.  
  
An hour later, Clark had finished his report on the respiratory system of fish, and was relaxing in his loft, reading a book. He heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to the familiar sight of Lana aproaching him. He smiled and sat up, putting his book on the table.  
  
"Hi, Clark," said Lana.  
  
"Hey, Lana. What's up?"  
  
"Nothing, I just wanted to come ask you if you would come with me to this thing Nell's having tomorrow for Dean's nephew or something. He just graduated high school. Anyways, Nell wants me to go, and I was hoping maybe you'd want to come and keep me company?" Lana asked hopefully.  
  
Clark flashed a smile, and said, "Sure, I'd love to."  
  
"Thanks, Clark."  
  
"Anytime. So I'll see you tomorrow?" Clark asked her.  
  
"Yeah, the party's at the Talon, it's starting at eleven."  
  
"I'll be there." Clark promised.  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews guys!!! I'm glad you like it so far. Here's part 2...  
  
Strength  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Being Saturday, Clark had set his alarm for later, and he was sprawled out on his bed sleeping. The digital numbers on the clock changed to 9:00 and the alarm started beeping. Clark jumped from the sudden noise, the groaned and carefully set his hand down on the alarm button, having learned his lesson after so many "alarm-squishings" before. CRUNCH! Clark drew his hand back quickly. He didn't know what had happened, he had pushed with the amount of force he would use to dial a number on the phone. Definitely not hard enough to break something.  
  
Clark decided he was just tired, and got out of bed. He walked over to the closed bedroom door and grabbed the handle. It gave under his grip, and he found himself holding a wad of mishapen doorknob in his hand. Startled, he dropped the piece of metal on the floor and sat back down on his bed. He picked up a CD case, and expected the crack, but it didn't come. He smiled and picked up the glass that had been filled with water the night before and was glad when it didn't break.  
  
Clark walked back to the door and stuck his finger through the whole where the doorknob used to be, and pulled open the door. He went down to the kitchen for breakfast, making himself some toast. He heard both of his parents outside in the garden, and made his way out there.  
  
"Morning, sleepyhead," Jonathan said as he saw Clark emerge from the house.  
  
"Hey," Clark mumbled.  
  
He gave them the "I have to tell you guys something" look, and Jonathan and Martha simultaneously asked, "What is it, Clark?"  
  
Clark didn't say anything, he just walked over and held out the crushed doorknob with a funny look on his face. His parents looked at it, then at him.  
  
"What did you do that for, Clark?" Martha questioned.  
  
"When I woke up I broke my alarm clock even though I didn't hit it hard, and then when I got up to go downstairs, I crushed the doorknob when I put my hand on it," Clark explained.  
  
"But now you're fine?" asked a concerned Jonathan.  
  
"Yeah, as far as I can tell, it just lasted a few seconds."  
  
"Well it was probably nothing. Why don't you go get dressed, you have a party to go to soon," said Martha as she steered him in the direction of the kitchen door.  
  
An hour later, Clark climbed in the truck and headed to the Talon to meet Lana. He pulled up in front of the building at 10:40 and went and knocked on the front doors.  
  
Lana opened them and smiled at Clark, saying, "Hey, Clark! I'm glad you're here early, we need help moving all the tables into the back room."  
  
"Hi, Lana," Clark grinned and put his jacket on the coat rack set up near the door. He went to one of the tables and lifted it by the small round top and walked towards the back with it. He came back out as Nell and Lana went in carrying a table together, and this continued for a few minutes until the large room was cleared out except for some chairs left behind for guests to use.  
  
Soon the guests began arriving, and the party went on for almost five hours. After the last person had left, Clark and Lana looked at the room full of trash and empty glasses and soda cans. Nell had left with Dean to go back to Metropolis, so it was up to the two of them to clean up the mess. They sighed and began picking up trash.  
  
Two hours later, the Talon was back to normal, but they decided to sit down and have something to eat. Lana dug out some frozen corndogs from the kitchen freezer and they had a wholesome dinner of corndogs and pastries.  
  
By the time they were ready to leave it was almost 8:00 and dark outside. They had locked up half an hour before, and were enjoying the cool night air on the bench in front of the Talon.  
  
They got up and began walking next to eachother. They had gone a few buildings past the Talon when Clark realized his jacket was still on the bench - his mom would kill him if he lost it, he'd only had it for a week. He told Lana to keep walking, and jogged back to get is jacket.  
  
He had just put on his jacket when he heard Lana yell from an alley they had just been near. He supersped to the corner and ran at a believable pace to where the robbers were.  
  
"Let her go!" he yelled.  
  
"Or what, farmboy?!" Yelled one of the men.  
  
Clark stepped forward and threatened them, saying, "I mean it."  
  
The mugger looked at his buddy and then at Clark and grinned. He shoved Lana into a dumpster, knocking her out and leaving a large gash on her head.  
  
Clark was fuming. He supersped up to the first man, and when the robber swung a punch at him, he caught the fist and pushed him just hard enough to knock him a few feet away. Only the man flew all the way to the end of the alley, slamming into the brick wall. Clark heard the sickening 'crunch' as bones broke. He looked at the second man who had a gun leveled at Clark's chest. He sped up and tapped the man on the forehead to knock him out. The man's neck was snapped backwards and his head hit the wall of the building. The man fell limp.  
  
Clark stared in horror at what he had done. He looked at his hands and wonder what was happening to him. He heard a soft moan and remembered Lana. She was in bad shape, the cut on her head was bleeding badly. Clark ran over to her, and reached down, picking her up. He nearly cried as he heard the bone crack when he touched her arms.  
  
He ran to the hospital, his eyes full of tears he could hardly hold back. Doctors rushed a gurney into the room and Clark set her on the bed. One doctor asked him what had happened, he said he found her like that, and that he thought she had some broken bones. The doctor nodded, and Clark watched the staff rush her away.  
  
To be continued...  
  
... when I have at least 4 reviews. ;) 


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again for the reviews guys!! I've decided to do short chapters more often, because I have a "lack of update" problem. So they're gonna be short like this but I'll update more often. Enjoy!!  
  
Strength  
  
Part 3  
  
Clark sped home, the wind stinging his teary eyes. He went straight up to the loft in the barn, and sunk into the corner, head in his hands. He stayed there all night, devastated at the damage he had caused Lana, the girl he loved, just by touching her. He hated himself. Why couldn't he be normal, why did he have to be such a freak. He couldn't even control his own power anymore. He didn't know what he was going to do, he couldn't touch a thing without it breaking. He wasn't safe to be around anymore. He nearly killed Lana's attackers using the smallest amount of force possible. He couldn't be near his parents or his friends without causing them pain.  
  
He had to leave.  
  
He would go to Metropolis, find a place where no one would bother him, where he couldn't hurt anybody. Then everyone would be safe, he wouldn't be able to harm them.  
  
He should have brought something with him, clothes, food, supplies, but was too afraid to enter the house. He simply left. He walked, silently crying in his mind. Head down, he continued on for hours. Once he was faintly aware of a voice yelling at him, from a slowed car, but didn't acknowledge it much. When dawn began to break, he switched into Clark time, traveling the rest of the way to the city's outskirts in just under five minutes.  
  
He passed old rundown buildings, houses with piles of old bathtubs and washing machines in the front yard. He passed the nicer houses, businessmen and women leaving their homes to go to work. He entered the main city, full of tall office buildings and shopping centers. He wandered through the maze of streets until he came to an old warehouse. The majority of the small windows had been broken or cracked. The original paint had been chipped and covered in graffiti. It was obviously empty, nothing still in use would be this rundown. Clark found the door around the side of the building, unlocked, not that it mattered, the door handle was crushed when he tocuhed it anyway. He stepped inside, looking around. There was some old machinery in the large main room, covered in inches of dust. There were some old soda cans and beer bottles scattered around the floor, covered also in dust. He made his way to the upper level, finding a small room missing the door, probably used as a janitor's closet. He sat himself down in the corner, and pulled his knees to his chest. He rested his head on his legs and shut his eyes, going into a deep state of depression.  
  
''''''  
  
Martha and Jonathan watched as the sun came up over the horizon. Their son hadn't returned that night. They had sat up waiting, worrying more every minute that passed. They figured at first that Clark had stayed behind to help Lana clean up, and then maybe eat dinner. But he still would have returned home at a reasonable hour, and called if he was going to be any later. Since there had been no sign of him, they were really getting worried. They called the Talon, but the girl had said Lana hadn't been there that morning. They tried Chloe's house next. Chloe told them she hadn't seen Clark, but that Lana was in the hospital, in very bad condition.  
  
Martha began crying, upset now about both Lana and Clark. She told Jonathan she wanted to go to the hospital to see Lana.  
  
When they arrived, the doctor said she was still in surgery.  
  
"What happened to her?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"A young man carried her in here, said he found her in an alley. She has a broken arm, her right leg is broken it two places, a few craacked ribs and a somewhat minor concssion. She's in surgery now for small amounts of internal bleeding," the doctor told them.  
  
"Oh, Jonathan!" Martha sobbed. "What's happening? Where could Clark have gone? What happened to Lana?"  
  
"I don't know, Dear." Jonathan hugged his wife closer to him. "But our son is strong. I'm sure he's okay wherever he is."  
  
Lex came running into the waiting room. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent! Did Clark come home last night?" he asked them, out of breath.  
  
"No, Lex. Why?"  
  
"I saw him walking down Route 8 to Metropolis in the middle of the night last night. I was on my way home from a business meeting there and I saw him on the side of the road. I stopped the car and called to him and asked if he needed a ride, but I'm not sure if he heard me. I came back as soon as I could, Chloe's father said you were here."  
  
Martha gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "You don't think he...."  
  
To Be Continued.....  
  
Once again, four reviews = next chappy!! ;) 


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